Gloucester End Loves Defensive Glory

October 11, 1989|By SONNY DEARTH Staff Writer

GLOUCESTER — Henley Green's smile, long stride and easygoing manner in the halls of Gloucester High School don't reflect his change of personality on the football field. He lives to make a jarring tackle.

"I don't understand how somebody can like offense," said Green, the Dukes' 6-foot-5, 220-pound senior defensive end who occasionally plays fullback and tight end.

"You look for the glory, and all the glory's on defense. The higher the impact, the more pumped up the team gets. They say, `Wow, I can do that too.'"

Green, who moved his way up from the scout team last year, is developing into a roving terror for the Dukes' defense. Gloucester, 3-3 entering a difficult three-week schedule of Warwick, York and Tabb, has allowed more than 13 points in only one game - a 31-7 loss to York.

With a young offense that has been plagued by inconsistency, Green's seek-and-destroy missions have been crucial to Coach Turnley Todd's club.

"He can be a very dominating force," Todd said, "but he's still young in terms of football experience. He's got nice size and he runs well."

Green has only played varsity football for two seasons, and his relatively slender physique better resembles a basketball player's more than a football player's.

"During my sophomore year, I didn't play - I just stayed on the bench," Green said. "I tried to work hard on weights this summer and I increased my bench, so at the beginning of football season I was 245. But I lost 20 pounds before the season started."

Todd compared Green potentially to former Tabb High All-American Chris Slade, now a part-time defensive end starter for the University of Virginia.

"With maturity of muscle, he's still a youngster," Todd said. "He's got a lot of growth potential as far as adding weight. For a rush end, (Division I-A schools) like people up in the 235s and 240s."

Green said he has received interest from Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, though Todd said he wanted Green to raise his grades.

"He could be better; he's a borderline `C' student," Todd said. "That may be a big factor on whether he goes Division I-A or Division I-AA."

"I've been trying to hit the books as hard as I can this year," Green said. "In our grading scale, a `C' goes from 87 to 76. I hope the schools take that into consideration.

"The bigger the college, the better. I've worked my way up the ladder, I guess."

Todd usually deploys Green to the same side as the offense's tight end and puts Chris Walker on the weak side.

"Like all defensive linemen, he loves to rush the passer," Todd said. "People expect him to make big plays."